This is the core, if you care to heed it, Frank. I've said this before as well: you're not doing much more than either delivering single thought balloons without details, or telling us to go read it/see it/hear it elsewhere.

I have no doubt you understand the issues, but your inability to explain your thoughts in detail gives a public impression you're parroting ideas rather than comprehending them yourself.

You have a recognizable point of view -- and have no problem stating it -- but you don't seem to be willing to defend it.

Repeating a thought ad nauseum isn't defending the logic behind the thought, it's simply repeating a meme. Your verbal acrobatics do you a disservice in this regard.

Just saying'.

All I need is a change of clothes, my Nikon, an open mind and a strong cup of coffee.

FrankChurch wrote:Low blow. I say stuff all the time, then I am ignored when I do.

I feel it is just fear of the ideas themselves.

No, it is not. You scare me about as much as a dust bunny.

Yes, you say stuff all the time. Mostly, you are not ignored, you get a reaction. Often, you get just that---a reaction, not a response. That's because Barber is right, you put out soundbites and aphorisms and inuendo but once you do get a response, you move on to the next thing. The only time I ever saw you sustain a conversation, if we can call it that, is over that copyright issue, but even there you almost never (I don't want to say "never" because I didn't see ALL the back and forth) responded to counterargument. You were asked direct questions then and ignored them. If you feel you're ignored, look again---you get lots of attention. You don't ignore us, just what we say in reaction to your little gems.

As to your ideas---what ideas? You put forth Chomsky's et al but I'm not really sure I've seen one of your ideas.

Lori you are very kind to say those things but basically I'm just trying to figure out what the hell's going on. When I hear about people who sound like they might know I go listen to what they have to say. Still don't know what's going on but I have learned a lot about what other people think is going on. One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot more people willing to provide me with an answer than there are people willing to ask questions. If skepticism means anything it means asking lotsa questions.

“We must not always talk in the marketplace,” Hester Prynne said, “of what happens to us in the forest.”-Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

FrankChurch wrote:Low blow. I say stuff all the time, then I am ignored when I do.

I feel it is just fear of the ideas themselves.

No...you don't. You may THINK you explain your points, but you really do not. With perhaps two exceptions in the last six months, not a single post of yours goes beyond a handful of sentences. (As noted, citing writers and links isn't making a cogent argument, it's letting other people do the work.)

Perhaps it is your perception that you're being informative, when our perception is that you are not being specific, which is the source of miscommunication.

All I need is a change of clothes, my Nikon, an open mind and a strong cup of coffee.

Ezra Lb. wrote:Lori you are very kind to say those things but basically I'm just trying to figure out what the hell's going on. When I hear about people who sound like they might know I go listen to what they have to say. Still don't know what's going on but I have learned a lot about what other people think is going on. One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot more people willing to provide me with an answer than there are people willing to ask questions. If skepticism means anything it means asking lotsa questions.

You got an onygen tank dude? You're gonna need it for the pedestal your gonna be on....

But if I'm honest you and Penn Jillette share the honor of making me aware of the fact I'm a non believer. You both have a way of expressing yourselves that I find really easily understood. There is a lot more I could say but I don't want to embarrass you.